Not sure that Apple indexing rather than using the far more complete Google indexing is so great for the users at this point.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Confirms 'Applebot' as In-House Web Crawler for Services Like Siri and Spotlight
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Exactly. Apple's focus should be on making Siri and Spotlight best in class. I don't think anyone can say Siri is best in class right now. We know Microsoft has big plans for Cortana so Apple can't afford to let Siri fall further behind.
Agreed. No chance that merger would pass Anti-Trust issues.
Also the takeover would at the very least be somewhat hostile and it would have to be at a serious premium. Google's market cap is $181 billion. Apple would probably have to offer $300 billion at least and maybe much more to buy it from all its shareholders. And for that kind of money (more likely newly issued stock, diluting the heck out of Apple's current shareholders) Apple would get not a whole heck off a lot more earnings.
Completely agree! Even so, I fear that's a tragic understatement - Siri is absolutely appalling. It works worse now than it ever did on iOS 5.
If you count products by their individual SKU that's really not a smart way of looking at it. iPad. iPhone. Apple watch. 3 products. The iPad COULD be broken down into 2 products. But saying a 64GB iPad is a totally different product from a 128GB is idiocy.
Apple is still focusing on just a few things. And one primary: an ecosystem
Apple is still focusing on just a few things. And one primary: an ecosystem
Just buy DuckDuckGo already!
This! I have switched over to DuckDuckGo and it works just fine and has a way better privacy policy. Apple could buy and improve on their technology. And I am not aware of any Patent disputes with DDG, which could be important.
YMMV depending on your location but it found Apple Maps to be quite accurate. Only once in the past several years has it been wrong and I switched to gmaps. However it has on a few occasions given me better results than gmaps.
However. I don't use Apple maps in Korea when I'm there but it's better than gmaps in China.
However. I don't use Apple maps in Korea when I'm there but it's better than gmaps in China.
The iPhone can easily be broken down into 4 products right now: 5C, 5S, 6, 6+. Most customers don't know the difference. The iPad can be broken down in iPad and iPad Mini, with an iPad Pro on the horizon. The Apple Watch has 3 models. Then they have 3 iPod lines.
The Mac lines currently have at least 6 products, but I would actually argue that the MacBook Pro is 3 lines (13", 13" retina, and 15"), and that the iMac is also 3 lines (21", 27", 27" retina). So you arrive at 10 different Mac lines there.
The only product line that doesn't seem muddled is the Apple TV.
So all together they've got 23 different product lines (+ the iPad Pro is coming, so 24). I think it's too many. As someone else said, when Steve Jobs came back to Apple, he cut down the number of product lines from dozens down to just 4.
It'd be interesting to see how many product lines Apple had when Steve Jobs died vs how many they have now... but I don't have the time to go back and see which exact product lines they had at the time of his death. I expect I'd find it was less than 18, though.
Last edited:
Lol. You must be joking. I use all 3 and can say both Siri and Cortana are much better than Google Now as a personal assistant. And Siri is better than Cortana at most things. The only thing Cortana definitely does better than Siri at the moment is third party integration.
Most who actually have extensive experience with all 3 would agree Siri is best in class and the others are still playing catchup. They are gaining though so Apple shouldn't be resting on its laurels.
I trust Apple to make great hardware and operating systems; I trust Google to do web search. I think they're making a mistake if they think they can switch over providers like that.
I still won't use Apple maps, always use Google after using Apple's maps a few times after release.
I still won't use Apple maps, always use Google after using Apple's maps a few times after release.
Steve Jobs saw Android as Google's attempt to kill the iPhone. Could this be the retaliation - Apple Search as an attempt to kill Google?
In what way has Siri gotten worse that doesn't have anything to do with the way you speak?
----------
I tested both Cortana and Siri. They both have keen advantages over each other. Siri is doing fine . . . and Apple CAN afford to let Siri fall behind. There have the money
"APPALLING" - that's quite a superlative. I'm finding SIRI's voice recognition has increased quite a bit recently. On the Apple Watch it seems to do an initial pass then a second one to improve the result.
As far as giving a single accurate answer - as opposed to a long list of search results - i've always found that to be good on SIRI.
You separating models into sizes? Why? They still do the exact same thing. Are you saying that people shouldn't have the choice of what size Macbook screen or color of iPhone they should get?
I don't know what consumers you're talking to but most people in my area definitely know that key differences between the iPhone 5s, 5c, 6, and 6 plus.
That and the fact the Apple as a company is much bigger than it was when Steve first came back as CEO. They have teams for each major product, software, and service.
This Steve Jobs praising needs to stop.
This would be relevant if the 5C and 5S weren't older generations still on sale. If they were independently maintained product lines, there would be confusion, but they aren't.
As for the 6 and the 6 Plus? While people who really follow Apple know the differences, most people judge them on the biggest difference: Screen size. Easy.
Again, the Watch is a "mash up of SKUs" because it's customisable. The function is the same. Same with colours of the iPhone.
Or, from when Steve Jobs was CEO: the iMac + the iPod nano.
Honestly, when will this "without Steve, Apple is screwed" BS just end?
Funny you should say that. The other day I asked Siri if Apple Pay worked at Office Max (forgot my wallet...). Siri said "That's a good question." I tried a bunch of different ways... same answer.
So I opened up the google app on my phone and asked it the same question and a bunch of stories popped up stating that it indeed does (and is on the list from Apple!).
So yeah, no match in my opinion and actually very disappointing.
The fact it's slow as anything to process a request, even when you're on a 150MB/s connection. The fact that nothing is offline, and everything has to be bounced off a server - so a simple request like 'call David' won't work if you have a sketchy connection. And yet a request like 'call David' would work on an iPhone 4 with the 'Voice Recognition' feature. That's a step backwards. To not have any offline functionality in the event of limited connectivity is absolutely ridiculous.
Try using Siri while driving. Even with full 3G signal, it's so, so poor.
Strange because Steve introduced the MacBook Air, iPhone, the Apple TV, and the iPad.